The Unknown Sister
by SpectrumLight
Summary: Have you wondered what lay beyond the known world? Or whether the Rangers ever went further than their boundaries? Now, as The Righteous threaten Aella's home, she must act drastically to save it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi people, this is my first Ranger's Apprentice story! I love reviews, please review! If you have any ideas for my story, send me a PM or whatever please!**

Chapter 1

It had been five years since Will had first entered Halt's apprenticeship. And this was his first year as a Full Ranger, with his own Fief and all. He had his shares of troubles, he had to admit. The Skandians and John Buttle, but he felt he had dealt with the situations well and was feeling pleased with himself.

Will was on his way to the Gathering. He had gotten to see Alyss before he left and the weather was beautiful. Even Tug was feeling happy today, clopping along without any of the normal sarcastic comments, which was a nice change. In fact, the day went exactly how Will wanted it until the girl turned up.

It had begun as an average Gathering, with Will and Gilan siting drinking coffee, waiting for Halt to arrive. Will had been telling the story of how he had given John Buttle to Gundar Hardstriker when he had come to his fief. Just as Will began telling how Gundar and his crew had dined with them, two hooded figures rode towards them.

One of the figures was short and wiry and other was taller and slender. As they rode closer, the shorter rider jumped off his horse and threw off his hood to reveal Halt.

"Halt! How are you? Where have you been? What took you so long? Who is that rider?" Will said in a happy rush of words.

All he got for a response was the eyebrow.

"Will you ever ask one question, and then possibly wait for answer?" Halt answered drily after a few moments. "And," he added, "I would like to know; what exactly is so interesting about your shoes?"

A smothered giggle sounded from the second rider who still wore their cloak and hood.

"Now, for your questions," Halt started again, "I've been at Redmont Fief mainly, I had an unsuspected guest, and why, thank you for asking Will, I'm just lovely." Halt said in rushed, mimicking voice, with notes of sarcasm. Will rolled his eyes, over his initial embarrassment at Halt's words.

"As for the rider, well, she's my daughter."

**Da-da-daaaaah! I know it's not a very long chapter, my others should hopefully be longer :) I don't when they will be out specifically, but it will be sooner, rather than later.  
**

**Also want to send out a thank you to The Lone Clapper!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's my second chapter. Hope you like it!**

**Thanks to Dawnfire11 and The Lone Clapper!  
**

Chapter 2

For a few seconds, all Will and Gilan could do was stand and gasp at Halt's words.

"Daughter?!" they said in unison, shocked.

"Yes, I'm his daughter. So what?" the rider said, irritated, as she threw her hood off. She was a young woman, slightly younger than Will and quite tall for a girl. She had black hair, honey coloured skin and her eyes were a vibrant, sea blue. She jumped off the horse and walked to Halt's side, slightly taller than him. The girl did have black hair, like Halt'swhen he was younger, but besides that there was no similarity, except perhaps for the smoldering glare they were both giving Will and Gilan.

"You don't really look alike tha…"Will started to say before Halt cut him off with a look.

"Of course she's not my blood child, but she's still my daughter." He said stormily. Will sent the girl a questioning look, but she completely ignored his gaze.

To both Will and Halt's mild surprise, Gilan stepped forward to the girl and said politely "Hello, I'm Gilan. What's your name?"

She looked at him as if she couldn't believe what she saw and said uncertainly "Hi Gilan. I'm Aella." A look of confusion passed briefly over Gilan, before he recovered and smiled.

As she seemed to relax, she asked Gilan "That's Will isn't it? The talkative one. I've heard a lot about him from Halt." Aella paused for a few seconds. "I've heard a lot about you as well, Gilan." she then added as an afterthought.

Will still felt embarrassed about the girl's dismissal of him and hoping to join in, walked over to them. "Yes, I'm Will. Nice to meet you, Aella." Will said, hoping to end the frostiness between them. She smiled at him and Will decided it wouldn't be so bad to have a sister after all.

**Good? Bad? If you have any input, please tell me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey peeps, I know it has been awhile since I updated (sorry!), but I am trying. I know my chapters aren't long but I am working on it!**

**thank you The Lone Clapper!**

After the first meeting and the unfriendliness behind them, Will and Gilan found that Aella was an amazing person. She could fight with a sword, shoot using a longbow, throw knives and travel silently. She was as witty as any of them and twice as smart as all of them; sums and literature came easily to her. She wasn't Halt's blood daughter, but there were many similar things about them and they were obviously close. In fact, so close that sometimes that Will would grow jealous even though she had just appeared out of nowhere.

But, he always, after a little while, would push the thoughts away. Aella was great and Halt was still close to Will, just in a different way.

Though, there was one thing neither Will nor Gilan could ever figure out about Aella: her past. Aella and Halt both ignored the subtle hints the Rangers gave and no one wanted to push them. Though sometimes, it was really hard not to as they became more curious about the many strange things about her. Her name came from no language they knew, her accent was peculiar with its lilting tones, and her abilities with weapons were incredible. It wasn't strange for a woman to have some knowledge, and you would expect a daughter of Halt to have extra, but what society would accept an arms-knowledgeable woman? But, luckily for Will and Gilan, they received their answers the night before Will left on his mission.

=+o+=

Will had just left his mission briefing with Halt and Crowley, and he was walking back with Halt. He was to leave for Norgate in the morning.

Gilan and Aella were already cooking a Ranger's dinner and it smelled great. Wild bird and greens, Will thought with relish. As they sat down, Aella reached over to get something from her bag, but instead knocked the bag over, scattering its contents. A whole range of things fell from the bag: a hairbrush, parchment, inkbottles and cooking materials. Also a large assortment of strange items; a blue necklace with a foreign crest, a thin book with strange characters in it and a long, mahogany box which had spilt open to show an assortment of letters.

Aella scrambled to collect all the fallen objects and return them to the bag. After she had picked them all of them up besides the box and necklace, she stopped. It looked like it hurt her to touch the wooden box and the necklace, so Will picked the box up and collected its letters, not once trying to read them and returned them to the bag. Aella looked at him as if she couldn't believe that he had just helped her. He went to reach for the necklace, but Aella darted out, picking the necklace up before he could even touch it. She looked slightly crazed, almost like a cornered animal, and then she realized none of were questioning her, so she relaxed.

"I know that you two," she said, gesturing to Will and Gilan, "...are curious about who I am and where I come from." Both of them nodded gently. "Well, I guess it's time you finally knew..."

**Cliff! Please review! Reviews make me happy and happy me makes quicker story! lol**


	4. Chapter 4

**HI! I know this is a short one, but it a back-story so it will have to do! Anyway, I hope you like it!  
**

"My story began in a country called Helas. Let me continue, your questions will be answered." She said, mildly annoyed as both Will and Gilan were going to ask something before she cut them off.

She continued in a slow, pained voice, "It is an ancient kingdom, far beyond your known world. It is vast, bigger than any country you would know. It is a wealthy civilization, living off its rich trade and fine craftsmanship. As all countries are, Helas is ruled by a king or queen of royal blood. The past king was a fair, caring, noble ruler and his subjects strongly respected him. But then the wise king died, leaving his only heir, his baby daughter.

Most of Helas agreed to have his daughter rule, but a large group called the Righteous decided a girl was unfit to rule. Their leader, a man by the name of Alexander, had a faint blood connection to the throne, so he believed that he had the right to rule. The Righteous stormed the royal castle and set out to kill anyone with royal blood there.

The princess managed to escape with the queen and using some of their last faithful allies, they both were smuggled to the nearest safe country, which happened to be Hibernia.

The traveled for days, looking for shelter, but as the queen only spoke a small amount of Common, this proved difficult. The weeks turned into months, and still the queen had found nowhere to rest and she was tired beyond repair.

Until one day she found Halt. He was saw how desperate the queen was, so they banded together. They found shelter, jobs and they finally seemed to be fitting in until The Righteous found them.

They had been following the queen's track for all this time, trying to find her so they could wipe out the last of the Helasian bloodline. The queen one day went out to collect firewood from a clearing nearby and Halt returned just in time to see the Righteous stab their queen. He fought them off, and killed the remainder, but it was too late for the queen. As she lay dying, she made Halt swear to look after the little princess. And of course, Halt did. As she grew up, Halt realized he could look after her all the time, so gave her to a close friend, but he was always nearby. When she grew older, he began to teach her his skills, fighting and all. But eventually, the princess had to leave, to help her kingdom from the Righteous terrible rule."

She finished, her eyes glistening with tears. Neither Will nor Gilan had to ask, they understood now. Aella was the lost princess of Helas.

**OOHLALA! Please review! If you have any ideas, PM me please!**


	5. Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Sorry guys. I am not continuing The Unknown Sister. I am not enjoying writing this story anymore. I might, later in time, decide to keep writing, so keep your eyes open, but I am not planning on it. If I see mass interest in the story I might continue writing, until then GOODBYE!

Val.


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